Worship - A Pastoral Resource Letter

Rev. Robert McCurley of the Greenville congregation recently composed a letter to his congregation in which he provides an overview of several important and helpful resources regarding the topic of worship. For those interested in learning more about purity of worship, psalmody, etc. this letter provides an excellent launching point for such study. The benefit lies not only in its sound direction to tried and true resources, but in that it also makes it easy to locate the resources electronically. Please find it posted below. Also, you will find a link to Rev. McCurley's sermons in the column to the right of this page.
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Dear Congregation,

A few people have recently asked for material that they could use for themselves or that they could give to their friends and family that would explain the biblical basis for the singing of Psalms in worship without musical instruments. While at risk of inundating you with information, I thought that I would compile a number of resources in one easily accessible place. This will enable various people to pick and choose from the online resources that best suit their needs. This extensive list is an attempt to help you and not overwhelm you.

The best brief introduction to Psalm-singing is a booklet by G. I. Williamson, a retired OPC minister, entitled, "The Singing of Psalms in the Worship of God". If someone is only going to read one thing, then I would recommend this piece by Williamson. It can be found online beginning at: http://www.westminsterconfession.org/worship/the-singing-of-psalms-in-the-worship-of-god.php. In addition, there is the 1947 minority report of the OPC, written by Professor John Murray and William Young, which has come to be viewed as something of a classic 20th century statement. This is also a small piece. It is found online beginning at: http://www.westminsterconfession.org/worship/song-in-the-public-worship-of-god.php. One of our FCC ministers, John Keddie, has also written a small book entitled, Sing the Lord's Song. It is found online beginning at: http://www.westminsterconfession.org/worship/sing-the-lords-song-biblical-psalms-in-worship.php. The most comprehensive, contemporary book on singing Psalms exclusively in worship is, The Songs of Zion, by Michael Bushell. This is a more substantial book and can be borrowed from the GPC church library. You may also be interested in a series of articles by Pastor Sherman Isbell on exclusive psalmody in which he powerfully refutes the objections to exclusive psalmody that have been appeared in the last couple of decades. This series of articles begins at: http://www.westminsterconfession.org/worship/the-singing-of-psalms.php. Pastor Isbell has also written a helpful introduction to the split-leaf Scottish Psalter that we use in our congregation, which was produced in conjunction with the Westminster Assembly. The article can be found at: http://www.westminsterconfession.org/worship/how-to-use-a-split-leaf-psalter-a-book-review.php. I would also commend a nice overview about Christ in the Psalms by E. S. McKitrick, which is found online at: http://www.westminsterconfession.org/worship/christ-in-the-psalms.php. All of these above links are to Pastor Isbell's website, The Westminster Presbyterian. The homepage for his site is: [the website's contents have now been transferred to the Presbytery's site: http://www.westminsterconfession.org/ -JM, 15 June 2009]. Pastor Isbell is one of my closest friends and our FCC pastor in Washington D.C. His website has a gold mine of articles on a wide variety of topics from the classical Reformed and Puritan perspective.

A brief introduction to the question of musical instruments in worship is, "Instrumental Music in Worship: Commanded or Not Commanded?" by G.I. Williamson. This can be found online beginning at: http://www.westminsterconfession.org/worship/instrumental-music-in-worship-commanded-or-not-commanded.php. If you want something to listen to on this topic, I preached a sermon on the biblical basis for not having instruments in New Testament worship entitled, Musical Instruments in Worship, which can be found online at: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=1140719162. We have a few books in the church library that address this topic. The best full-length book is by John L. Girardeau entitled, Instrumental Music in Worship, which is available in the GPC library. Girardeau was a 19th century South Carolinian Presbyterian pastor and theologian.

Underlying both the question of instruments and Psalm-singing is a more fundamental Reformed doctrine called the regulative principle of worship, which is spelled out in the Westminster Standards and other Reformed confessional statements. Much of the above material on Psalm-singing and musical instruments in worship will contain information on the regulative principle of worship. For additional introductory material on the regulative principle of worship itself, you can read the following: "Regulated Worship" by Pastor Isbell at: http://members.aol.com/RSISBELL/worship.html; "The Heavenly Sanctuary" by Pastor Isbell at: http://members.aol.com/RSISBELL/temple.html; "The Scriptural Regulative Principle of Worship" by G.I. Williamson beginning at: http://www.westminsterconfession.org/worship/the-scriptural-regulative-principle-of-worship.php; "The Second Commandment" by William Young beginning at: http://www.westminsterconfession.org/worship/the-second-commandment.php; "The Puritan Principle of Worship" by William Young beginning at: http://www.westminsterconfession.org/worship/the-puritan-principle-of-worship.php.

I have previously circulated to the congregation electronic audio filies of most of the tunes in our Psalter, which is a helpful aid in learning new tunes at home. This can be made available to others upon request. There are also several CD recordings of singing from the Scottish Psalter -- from various folks in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Australia and the US. You can order some of these from www.psalms4u.com. My personal favorite is entitled, Performed in Heaven, seen at:http://www.christianfocus.com/search/do/-/-/n_t?term=performed+in+heaven&type=all This and several others have to be ordered from Britain ( e.g., the FP Bookshop: http://www.fpbookroom.org/.

I hope that this e-mail adequately supplies the kind of material that some of your were requesting. If you still want more after you have read all of the material in this e-mail, please let me know. There is much more material once we turn to the historic Reformed writings.

If there is anything else that I can do to be of help in this regard, please do not hesitate to ask. May the Lord pour out the abundant riches of grace upon you and your families.

Warm Regards,

Pastor Rob McCurley

Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) Efforts in St. Louis

On Thursday, April 3rd the North American Presbytery of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) held worship and informational services in the St. Louis area. Rev. Sherman Isbell of the Metropolitan Washington D.C. Congregation led the services. This is in conjunction with an effort by the Presbytery to plant Churches throughout the nation.

Many thanks unto the Lord for his kind and generous provision in granting the opportunity to meet and worship together. It was personally encouraging to hear the preaching of God’s word, sing the Lord’s praise and enjoy fellowship with fellow Christians. Our prayer is that this would be blessed by God as the beginning of an established work in the area. Currently we have an evening Bible study which meets on the evenings of the Lord’s day, and are looking to establish weekly worship services in the area.

Mr. Jim Merkel, a reporter of the South County Suburban Journal, wrote on the event in an article you can find online here: http://southcountyjournal.stltoday.com/articles/2008/04/07/news/sj2tn20080407-0409ssj-scot0.ii1.txt.I personally offer my gratitude to Mr. Merkel and the Journal for reporting on the event. I thought it might prove helpful and beneficial to offer some further comments regarding the Free Church and some of the principles mentioned in the article. For a quick statement on identifying features of the Free Church, please consult the following link: http://www.masterstrumpet.org/features.pdf. Also the denominational website, http://www.freekirkcontinuing.co.uk/FCC/Welcome.html and the Washington congregational site, http://members.aol.com/RSISBELL/church.html will provide a helpful introduction to the Church.

Some of the principles mentioned in the article by Mr. Merkel include purity of worship, Sabbath observance and the civil establishment of true religion. At the foundation of all the principles held dear by the Free Church is the belief that the true God has revealed himself in Scripture. Thus, we view the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments to be the ultimate authority of all life, including issues of faith and practice. As 2 Timothy 3:16-17 states, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” This idea is enshrined in the Westminster Shorter Catechism. The second question asks, “What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?” To this the answer supplied reads, “The word of God, which is contained in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.”

Consequentially, we believe that Scripture is a sufficient guide and rule for all matters of doctrine and practice. As once prominent American theologian John L. Girardeau wrote, “A divine warrant is necessary for every element of doctrine, government and worship in the Church; that is, whatsoever in these spheres is not commanded in the Scriptures, either expressly or by good and necessary consequence from their statements, is forbidden.” One of our subordinate standards, the Westminster Confession states the same principle in chapter 20, section 1: “the instituted way of worshipping the true God is instituted by Himself, and so limited by His own revealed will, that He may not be worshipped according to…any other way not prescribed in the holy Scripture.”

This belief manifests in the non-accompanied psalm singing in every worship service. Whereas many of us involved in the Free Church cherish such hymns as “Amazing Grace” by John Newton or “Not What My Hands Have Done” by Horatius Bonar among many other such hymns, we find no warrant given to us in Scripture to offer such hymns to our sovereign and holy God. This is not to say that there is not much edifying and enjoyable content in uninspired hymns. However, when we read the Scriptural testimony we find the command to sing “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” (Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16), which are technical titles referring to the Old Testament book of Psalms. Moreover, we find that God has provided us not only with the command to praise him, but also with an entire book that form the content of that praise. At first glance this seems overly restrictive and unnecessary to many. However, if we take the word of God seriously, we cannot find any command to offer uninspired hymns unto the Lord in public worship. For more on psalm singing, please visit the following weblink: http://members.aol.com/rsichurch/worship.html. Particularly helpful is John Keddie’s, Sing the Lord’s Song, which is available by scrolling down the link above.

With reference to Christian Sabbath observance, we cherish the first day of the week as the instituted day of worship. God has kindly hedged off one day in seven that we can rest from our labors and seek the Lord’s face. To aid us in doing so, he has commanded that we cease from our normal routine. This includes such things as lawful but unnecessary employment and recreation. In the Old Covenant, God had instituted the last day of the week as the Sabbath. From Christ’s resurrection onward, the Sabbath continues on the first day of the week in honor of our Lord’s victory over sin, death and hell. Along with the Sabbath command found in Exodus 20:8-11, we also find the following from the book of Isaiah, chapter 58:13-14: “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”Certainly works of necessity and mercy are permitted upon the Christian Sabbath. As our Lord taught, “the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath,” (Mark 2:27). We should help those who are in need, visit the sick, orphaned, homeless, and so on. We do these for the very reason we do anything: God has commanded such to be done. Moreover, in such behavior we image God who is a father to the fatherless and merciful in all his ways. It is equally necessary that we tend to the needs of our body in eating, clothing and so on. One may wish to consult the Westminster Confession, chapter 20 for more regarding the Sabbath: http://members.aol.com/rsichurch/faith.html. Also see James MacGregor’s writings on the subject beginning here: http://members.aol.com/RSIGRACE/sabbath1.html.

Something that cannot be expressed so well on paper is the Free Church's commitment to experiencing salvation. Whereas we join with other Presbyterian and Reformed Christians in emphasizing doctrine, the role of reason in religion, and right behavior, we also emphasize the desperate need we have of actually experiencing the grace of God continually. We are far from interested in merely seeing the thinking of the Church and world reformed according to Scripture. Rather, we teach and emphasize doctrine in hope that the Holy Spirit would awaken the conscience of each sinner to his desperate need to repent of his sin and believe in the Lord Jesus. Furthermore, we emphasize the need for the continual ministry of the Spirit in the daily life of each believer. We believe ardently in the necessity of truth and Spirit. Our testimony is: "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). And, "Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Romans 8:12-14).

We recognize that not every believer is at the same state of maturity, discernment and sanctification. Thus we welcome all believers who are interested in worshipping our Lord in accordance to his word. Moreover, as Scripture teaches that God has ordained the preaching of the Gospel to be the means of converting lost sinners to Jesus Christ, we welcome anyone interested in learning more about the truth of God in Christ our Lord.

My last word, and the one I wish to emphasize and be emphasized more than any other, is that at our very root we prize the sovereign grace of God to sinners. This grace we prize has been revealed in Scripture, accomplished by Jesus Christ, and is applied by the Holy Spirit. Our greatest desire and our greatest emphasis is preaching Christ crucified for sinners. Although we deeply treasure and appreciate the Church principles mentioned above, would ever stand fast for their divine authority, and work and pray to the end that they would again be embraced by all believers in Jesus; the most treasured of all is that the true God of all men has sent his Son Jesus Christ to be crucified on behalf of sinners. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:16-17). If we maintain the other principles but forfeit the grace of God in Jesus Christ alone, we have failed and become useless though all men should join with us. Christ crucified, resurrected and reigning is our deepest and most solemn commitment. Christ is our life. Christ is our testimony. Christ is our all.

Please feel free to respond with any comments or questions. You may also email me at jmattull1643@gmail.com.

Kindest regards,

Jonathan Mattull